Golf grip with integral stand

ABSTRACT

The invention provides an assembly for propping a golf club up so that the grip end of the club is elevated above the ground. The assembly is composed of a club stand hingeably mounted within the grip so as to be flush with the grip surface. The grip has the same circumferential shape as golf grips lacking the assembly so that the golf feels no or little difference between the two grip types.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention is in the field of golf. More particularly, the inventionrelates to a golf grip that has a built-in stand for resting the handleof a golf club off the ground.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Golfers often find themselves playing in the early mornings and in therain. When they align shots, many put their golf club on the groundwhere it picks up moisture. A moistened golf grip can be slippery; mostgrips are made of a non-absorbent, elastomeric material. The golferusing a slippery grip can lose the club while swinging so he or she mustremember to wipe the golf grip down to make sure it is dry before takingthe shot. Golfers also often find themselves playing in sand traps. Asandy golf grip can be slippery too.

The following patents relate to golf putters with grips that have strokeand putting assistance implements built into the putter grip. U.S. Pat.No. 8,231,479 issued to McIntosh discloses a putter grip and bladeassembly for a golf putter including a grip having a distal end and aproximal end with the grip having an opening at the proximal end for ashaft of a putter and additionally a recess in the length of the gripfor a blade in which the blade is rotatable for the blade to extend fromthe recess of the grip. In order for the blade assembly to fit withinthe grip, the grip must be oblong shaped in cross section. This meansthat the putter has a different feel in the golfer's hands than the restof the clubs.

Most golf club supports of the type useful for keeping the golf clubgrip off the turf to prevent it from becoming wet are stand alone itemsthat the golfer carries in his or her pocket or the golf bag. U.S. Pat.No. 6,162,137 issued to Jones et al. is exemplary. Disclosed is acombination ball mark repair tool, golf club support and cigar cutter.At one end of the pocket sized tool, a turf prier is pivotally mountedin a handle. The opposite end of the handle has a concave recess, sothat when the prier end is stuck vertically in the turf, the golfer mayput the golf club shaft on the recess to keep the grip end of the cluboff the turf. Other exemplary U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,813,414; 5,182,704;7,041,001; 6,497,327 and 5,730,404, are similar in their stand alonefunctionality.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,977 issued to MacNearly discloses a golf greenrepair tool that is mounted within the shaft of the golf club andenables the golfer to repair the turf without having to bend over. BothU.S. Pat. No. 4,805,911 issued to Ferlazzo et al. and U.S. Pat. No.6,482,103 issued to Vache disclose golf club supports that are mountedwithin the end of the golf club shaft end opposite the head end. Withthese types of supports, balance and stability in use can presentproblems as the portion of the stand that sits on the ground is acircular, flat stand head or support pad, the stand itself is at thevery end of the club, and the golfer must make sure that the stand headis in proper alignment with the club face for the stand to workcorrectly.

It would be advantageous to have a support stand that is integral withthe golf grip rather than located at club end. A support stand distal tothe club head would provide better balance and stability and assist inkeeping the grip dry. Automatically positioned in the proper alignmentwith the face of the club head, it would eliminate the balance andstability issues of the aforementioned devices that are mounted withinthe shaft. It would also be advantageous if the integral stand could bemounted in a circumferentially symmetrical grip to maintain the feel andbalance golfers are traditionally used to. So if the golfer uses asupport stand for only one club, the putter for example, the grip forthe putter has the same feel and balance as the rest of the golfer'sclubs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The advantages mentioned above are provided in the golf grip andintegral stand assembly of the invention. The assembly is composed of agrip for mounting on the handle end of a golf club. The grip ispreferably symmetrical in cross section so that the golf feels nodifference between the grip of the invention and the golfer's othergrips. The grip has a distal end and a proximal end in relation to theclub's face, and the grip has an opening at the proximal end formed toreceive the shaft of the golf club. The distal end forms the end of theclub, as it does with traditional golf grips. A longitudinal recess isformed and arranged in the length of the grip and a club stand ishingeably mounted to the grip at one end of the recess.

The club stand has an interior surface and an exterior surface and it ispositioned in the recess such its exterior surface is flush with thegrip surface when the stand is in its closed position. By means of thehinge mounted between the wall of the grip recess and one end of thestand, the stand is able to rotatably extend from the recess of the gripfrom a closed position flush with the exterior surface of the grip to anopen position wherein the interior surface of the stand is exposed.Hinge stop means may be provided to prevent the stand from pivoting morethan 90 degrees from its closed position.

The golf grip additionally includes a stand cover that is mounted on theexterior surface of the stand and is formed of the same material as theremainder of the grip. When the stand is in its closed position, thegrip portion containing the stand will thus have the same feel to thegolfer as the remainder of the grip.

Optionally, the golf grip assembly may include means for releasablyretaining the stand in its closed position. In one aspect, the retainingmeans may take the form of a magnet mounted on the interior surface ofthe club stand near the unhinged end of the stand. The magnet may berecessed into the interior surface of the club stand. The magnet will beattracted to the metal of the golf shaft and hold the stand in place inits closed position when not in use. In another aspect the retainingmeans may take the form of a clip, pin, or clasp, mounted on theinterior surface of the stand in mating arrangement with a holder tomaintain the stand in place in its closed position. Alternatively, theretaining means may be a spring loaded button affixed to the golf clubshaft and disposed near the unhinged end of the club stand.

The stand cover of the golf grip assembly may be the same size as thestand or it may extend beyond the length of the stand or the width ofthe stand at its unhinged end to form a shelf end for grasping by thegolfer in order to rotate the stand to its open position.

The club stand portion of the assembly may be composed of a variety ofmaterials including, polymers, plastics, graphite polymers, metals,alloys, ceramic, synthetic and natural materials and combinationsthereof. Plastics are preferred in order not to affect the balance ofthe club once the grip assembly is mounted on it. The grip portion ofthe assembly may be composed of a grippable material, without, ortypically with, a texturized surface. Grip materials that can be usedare well known in the art. Exemplary materials that may be used includerubber composites and elastomers such as Elastom ETM and ethylenepropylene diene Monomer (EPDM). The specific shape of the stand can bevaried. Rectangular is preferred because when longitudinally mounted inthe grip, it provides an appropriate height to maintain the club gripoff the turf, is easy to manufacture, and causes less impact in terms ofthe feel of the club in the golfer's hands. Tapered rectangles withpointed or blunt ends and T shapes could also be used. The golf gripassembly of the invention may be used with any golf club once it ismounted on the club with the club stand parallel to the club face. Theassembly may be used with newly manufactured clubs and can be retrofiton clubs to replace old grips.

In operation, when the golfer wants to use his or her club line up ashot, or just support the club while he or she surveys a shot, thegolfer opens the club stand, places the head of the club on the groundand the unhinged end of the club stand on the ground. The grip assemblyof the assembly can be used on all of a golfers club or only on oneclub. For example, if the grip assembly is mounted on the putter and thegolfer approaches the green with a few clubs in hand because his or hershot is undetermined, the putter can be employed as a stand for theother clubs.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the golf grip and stand assembly of theinvention shown mounted on a putter.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the assembly of the invention, withthe stand in its closed position.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross sectional view of the assembly of theinvention, with the stand in its open position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is illustrated the golf club grip andstand assembly of the invention mounted on a typical golf club, aputter. Putter head 11 lies on the ground and club stand 2 is in itsextended position holding the opposite end of the club, 13, off theground.

A close-up of the assembly in its closed position is provided in FIG. 2.Club stand 2 is in its closed position within the recess (not shown) ofthe golf grip, 6. Grip 6 is mounted on the golf shaft so that its closedend is at the top, 5, of the club. Hinge 1 which is mounted between theclub stand 2 and the bottom of the recess has a backing plate that bendsto fit the arc of the shaft. Hinge 1 may be provided with a built instop that prevents the Kick Out club stand from going past 90 degrees.Recessed magnet 3 is secured to the interior surface of club stand 2(the interior surface as defined when the club stand is in its closedposition). Shelf end 4 forms a grab at the end of the club stand 2 toenable the golfer to easily open the stand. This shelf end may be formedof the same material as the grip or it may be formed as a molded plasticlip that is adhered to the grip. A peel off tape may cover the assemblyto prevent the club stand from extending during shipment or while ondisplay.

The actual placement of where the assembly will be formed within thegrip may vary. As illustrated, it is near but not at the top of theclub, 5. It can vary up to about 3 inches in its positioning. Once thegrip is mounted on a club, the club stand should be arranged to beparallel to the club face for the most stable resting and because thislocation will work for both left and right handed golfers.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of the assembly with the club stand in theopen, extended position and in longitudinal cross section. The grip ismounted on steel club shaft, 7, and extends longitudinally from the top5 of the club toward the club head (putter head). Hinge 1 connects clubstand 2 by means of backing plate 9 which is adhered to club shaft 7.Hinge stop 8 is positioned between hinge 1 and the wall of grip 6 toprevent the club stand from extending beyond 90 degrees. Magnet 3 ispreferably recessed into the club stand so that club stand 2 is flushwith the surface of the grip 6 in the closed position. Alternatively, ifmagnet 3 is very thin, it may be mounted on the inner surface of clubstand 2 by means of an adhesive material or a rivet. The importantaspect is that the assembly be formed such that the club stand is flushwith the surface of the golf grip in its closed position so that thegolfer does not feel any oddness is using the club. If the shelf end atthe unhinged end of the club stand is made of plastic its top surfacemay be covered with the same material as the grip to minimize anydifference in feel. The grip has the same circumferential shape as golfgrips lacking the assembly so that the golfer feels no or littledifference between the two grip types.

We claim:
 1. A golf grip and stand assembly comprising: a grip formounting on the handle end of a golf club, the grip being symmetrical incross section and having a distal end and a proximal end in relation tothe club face, and the grip having an opening at the proximal end formedto receive the shaft of the golf club and a longitudinal recess in thelength of the grip; and a club stand hingeably mounted at one end in thelongitudinal recess in the grip, the stand having an interior surfaceand an exterior surface, the stand being formed and arranged such itsexterior surface is flush with the grip surface when the stand is in aclosed position and the stand is able to rotatably extend from therecess of the grip to an open position.
 2. The assembly according toclaim 1 where the grip has the same circumferential shape as golf gripslacking the assembly.
 2. The assembly according to claim 1 additionallycomprising a stand cover mounted on the exterior surface of the standand being formed of the same material as the remainder of the grip. 3.The assembly according to claim 2 additionally comprising means forreleasably retaining the stand in a closed position.
 4. The assemblyaccording to claim 3 wherein the retaining means comprises a magnetmounted on the interior surface of the stand near the unhinged end ofthe stand.
 5. The assembly according to claim 2 wherein the stand coverextends beyond the length of the stand to form a shelf end for graspingto rotate the stand to its open position.
 6. The assembly according toclaim additionally comprising a hinge stop for preventing extension ofthe stand beyond ninety degrees in its open position.
 7. A golf grip andstand assembly comprising: a grip for mounting on the handle end of agolf club, the grip being symmetrical in cross section and having adistal end and a proximal end in relation to the club face, and the griphaving an opening at the proximal end formed to receive the shaft of thegolf club and a longitudinal recess in the length of the grip; a clubstand hingeably mounted at one end in the longitudinal recess in thegrip, the stand having an interior surface and an exterior surface, thestand being formed and arranged such its exterior surface is flush withthe grip surface when the stand is in its closed position and the standis able to rotatably extend from the recess of the grip to an openposition; and a stand cover mounted on the exterior surface of the standand being formed of the same material as the remainder of the grip. 8.The assembly according to claim 2 additionally comprising means forreleasably retaining the stand in a closed position.
 9. The assemblyaccording to claim 3 wherein the retaining means comprises a magnetmounted on the interior surface of the stand near the unhinged end ofthe stand.
 10. The assembly according to claim 2 wherein the stand coverextends beyond the length of the stand to form a shelf end for graspingto rotate the stand to its open position.
 11. The assembly according toclaim additionally comprising a hinge stop for preventing extension ofthe stand beyond ninety degrees in its open position.
 12. A golf gripand stand assembly comprising: a grip for mounting on the handle end ofa golf club, the grip being symmetrical in cross section and having adistal end and a proximal end in relation to the club face, and the griphaving an opening at the proximal end formed to receive the shaft of thegolf club and a longitudinal recess in the length of the grip; a clubstand hingeably mounted at one end in the longitudinal recess in thegrip, the stand having an interior surface and an exterior surface, thestand being formed and arranged such its exterior surface is flush withthe grip surface when the stand is in its closed position and the standis able to rotatably extend from the recess of the grip to an openposition; a stand cover mounted on the exterior surface of the stand andbeing formed of the same material as the remainder of the grip; a magnetmounted on the interior surface of the stand near the unhinged end ofthe stand; and a hinge stop for preventing extension of the stand beyondninety degrees in its open position.